Category: Western Media

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify at his fraud trial, his lawyer told a federal judge Wednesday, ending speculation over whether a man who embraced the spotlight during his years atop the cryptocurrency world could remain silent after prosecutors portrayed him as a greedy entrepreneur who stole billions of dollars from customers. Attorney Mark Cohen told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that he planned to call three witnesses “and then our client is also going to be testifying” after prosecutors…

U.S. President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in two unpredictable foreign conflicts as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries. If international aggression is allowed to continue, Biden said in a rare Oval Office address, “conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world.” “Hamas and Putin represent…

Canada’s foreign minister said Thursday that 41 of the country’s diplomats have been removed from India after the Indian government said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity. The moves comes after Canadian accusations that India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver. The Associated Press previously reported that India had told Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Thursday that 41 diplomats and…

More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating and three people were charged with assaulting police after protesters descended on Capitol Hill to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Hundreds of demonstrators from Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building on Wednesday. They wore shirts that read “Jews say cease fire now” and they chanted “let Gaza live” and “not in my name” before they were…

Russia has detained an editor at U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for failing to register as a foreign agent while visiting for a family emergency, the broadcaster said. Russia has tightened its control over information and the media since the start of the nearly 20-month-long Ukraine war, forcing the closure of the last significant independent news outlets and designating many journalists and activists as “foreign agents.” Since the arrest of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich in March on spying…

U.S. military forces in Iraq were targeted on Wednesday in two separate drone attacks, with one causing minor injuries to a small number of troops even though the U.S. military managed to intercept the armed drone, a U.S. official said. The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not say who was suspected of the attacks on the al-Asad air base and the al-Harir air base. But Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups…

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in response to a deal reached between the government and opposition parties for the 2024 election – the most extensive rollback of Trump-era restrictions on Caracas. A new general license issued by the U.S. Treasury Department authorized OPEC member Venezuela, which had been under crushing sanctions since 2019, to produce and export oil to its chosen markets for the next six months without limitation. U.S. Secretary…

SANTIAGO, Chile — The Israeli government has suspended all sales and supplies of defense and security hardware and related services to Colombia. The move followed a heated exchange on X, formerly known as Twitter, between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Israeli Ambassador in Bogota Gali Dagan about the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. Petro had refused to condemn the Hamas raid. When Dagan urged Petro to speak about the attack on Israel, Colombia’s president replied with a message that…

If government regulators prevail against Google in the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century, it’s likely to unleash drastic changes that will undermine the dominance of a search engine that defines the internet for billions of people. As the 10-week trial probing Google’s business practices nears its midway point, it’s still too early to tell if U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta will side with the Justice Department and try to handcuff one of the world’s most dominant tech…

Palestinians struggled Saturday to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military while grappling with a growing water and medical supply shortage ahead of an expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel. Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for Gaza residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes. The U.N. and aid groups have said such a rapid exodus along with…

Jewish communities in North America are ramping up security in the face of rising emotions over the massacre of Jews in Israel and the imminent invasion of Gaza, with pro- and anti-Israel rallies being held daily in cities across the United States. Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told VOA that the communities are prepared and have built “comprehensive security programs.” But, he said, last Saturday’s Hamas attack against Israel and its aftermath has brought the…

Boeing has begun delivering smart munitions to Israel as the country intensifies retaliation in the wake of Hamas’ large-scale surprise attack. An Israeli Air Force transport aircraft recently flew with the 250-pound (113 kilogram) Small Diameter Bombs from the US to Israel, Bloomberg revealed citing a US official. Israel bought 1,000 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) in 2021 for $735 million.  Precision Munition The air-launched guided SDB can strike a target 40 miles (64 kilometers) away, providing “the means to…

  PARIS — Germany will send about €1 billion (U.S. $1.1 billion) worth of air defense systems to Ukraine as part of a second “winter package” for the embattled country, the German Defence Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The support will include a Patriot air defense system and two IRIS-T surface-to-air systems, as well as 10 more Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks, three Gepard anti-aircraft guns, armored trucks and ambulances, in addition to more than €20 million in…

Israel has incurred several cyberattacks following the large-scale surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas. Among the recorded incidents was an attack on the country’s services and government information website, resulting in the portal’s connectivity failure. It was claimed by hacktivists called Killnet, a pro-Russian cyber group that gained notoriety after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “Israeli government, you are responsible for this bloodshed,” Killnet said, as quoted by Cybernews. “Back in 2022, you supported the terrorist regime in Ukraine….

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack against Israel on Saturday, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza and sending fighters to kill or abduct people as Israel retaliated with devastating air strikes. At least 70 people were reported killed in Israel, while Gaza authorities released a death toll of 198 in the conflict’s bloodiest escalation in years, which also left hundreds more wounded on both sides. “We are at war,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the military launched a series of strikes against targets in the blockaded coastal…